McKenna Boyle

Check out our new site...

2011-05-05T15:50:00.001-07:00

Since there are 4 of us now, it's not fair for just McKenna to have a blog site... check out our family's new blog at http://coloradoboylefamily.blogspot.com

Thanks for visiting!

A Visit to Grandma & Grandpa's House In California

2010-09-30T14:42:00.000-07:00

Back in August, John, McKenna and I went to visit my parents in California for a week before my manager went on maternity leave... my last hurrah (sp?) before the purgatory I now find myself in.

McKenna had so much fun! Grandma bought her some galoshes for all the rain we were going to experience in August in California... as you can tell she only wanted to wear her new boots. She continually said, "I need boots on." She loves them.

We also took her to the beach for the first time since she was 3 months old, and I'm pretty sure she didn't remember that it was A. Sandy, and B. Noisy, and C. Filled with other people. She wanted to go home from the moment we arrived... even though we bought her $50 worth of sand shovels, umbrellas, sandcastle building tools etc.

Pinkalicious!

2010-08-22T15:02:00.000-07:00

For those of you with little girls, you may or may not of heard of the children's book, Pinkalicious, by Victoria and Elizabeth Kann.

Several of my friends had told me what a fun story it was, and while we were in California McKenna was desperately looking for something for us to read to her. We ran across the book at Target and bought it for her. Since then, she and Pinkalicious have become inseparable. I'm not sure if we can blame McKenna's recent terrible twos on Pinkalicious, but I'm about to the point where I'd like to blame someone!

Either way, McKenna's new found obsession for cupcakes had to have come from somewhere. The other day we were at the grocery store (Jocelyn - see: Market) and she asked me for a cupcake. I came up with the idea to make pink cupcakes like the ones Pinkalicious and her mom make in the book. I told her we were going to bake them before dinner last night... she was so excited! I let her help with adding ingredients, she was able to sit on the counter while we added food coloring to achieve the perfect color of pink, all and all a positive first baking experience. John shot a little video of the affair, it's rather long, but please stick with it. It's well worth the wait... trust me!

McKenna Turns Two!

2010-08-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe McKenna is two years old! Maybe her grouchiness is directly correlated to her age...Hmm... Then I realized, "she's two" is a great explanation for a lot of the things she does.

Like when she wants to wear her bathing suit (Mommy, I wanna wear Baby Soup)...

Or when she is fighting us about eating...and accidentally falls asleep at the table:

Or wants to wear her sunglasses indoors:

She's already one of the funniest people I know, and believe me that's saying something (I have my humor as a benchmark for funniness... 'cause I'm hilarious). I love the little girl she's turning in to, she is shy but confident, loving and goofy... just a joy producing kiddo. I don't know what we'd do without her... and in the future she'll be able to reach things for me on the high shelves in the kitchen... she's already 3'1.5" tall... her predicted height is between 5'9" & 5'11"... she's going to blow past me and my height-challengedness.

Here are some pictures of her from her birthday party (can you believe how much she's changed in a year?):

Last Year:

This year:

Here are some pics of her completed big girl room (is it a problem that I'm jealous of my two year old's room?):

We love you little bubba! Can't wait to find out what the next year with you will bring :-)

McKenna Gets a Big Girl Room!

2010-07-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

So McKenna turns 2 in two weeks! I can't believe how fast she's grown... so for the occasion, John and I gave her a big girl room... She slept in her new bed for the first time yesterday, and she seems to be off to the races.

Crested Butte - Our First "Just the Three of Us" Vacation

2010-07-12T07:30:00.000-07:00

I finally broke down and pulled a few hundred photos off of my camera which were 'blog worthy.' So it's your lucky day! A few new posts from the Boyle Family!

A few weeks ago, John McKenna and I went to Crested Butte so I could race in the Mountain States Cup event, The Wildflower Rush. We'd never been there before, so we thought it would be a good excuse for a quick trip to a beautiful place. We took our time driving down, and even took the scenic route, which for an impatient person like me is difficult.

Here we are on the top of Cottonwood Pass on the Continental Divide:

So then we made it... and it was SPECTACULAR! I could totally live there if I had a trust fund, no ambition and only wanted to snowboard and ride all day every day:

Then it was time for the beat down, also known as the Wildflower Rush (in no particular order):

All in all a very fun weekend... we can't wait to go back!

Our Little Skier!

2010-04-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

For future 2026 Olympic bragging rights we decided McKenna needed to be on skis before she was two. We finally accomplished this goal last weekend... here are some videos of her first skiing experience. You can plainly see she loved it (best evidenced by her softly crying in the background).

Enjoy:

Happy Easter!

2010-04-08T09:22:00.001-07:00

No time for a long post... just wanted to share a few pictures from Easter!

Post For Jocelyn

2010-03-15T18:19:00.000-07:00

Hi, it's me... it's been a long time, like since Christmas Eve... but I had a moment, and a friend (Jocelyn) who really, really wanted a new blog post, so here it is:

McKenna is a little girl now, she walks and talks and knows what she wants, before we know it she'll be off to college at the University of Colorado (if she knows what's good for her, and wants us to pay for it).

She loves the finer things in life, like a good filet mignon or prime rib, a fine wine and dinner with friends and family (here is a video of her at Christmas Dinner):

She has learned a foreign language (if you watch closely she'll sign 'shoes'):

She has learned what things are called (notice the blanket):

She has taken an interest in interior design and decorating (yes, that's the Pottery Barn Kids Catalogue):

She's ridden exotic animals:

She's learned to love cooking:

She has eaten sushi:

She has discovered a deep love for literature (and monkeys):

All in all McKenna is a joy to have around, we laugh so hard we cry most days. It's so fun to see her little personality develop... her language skills are changing on a daily basis too; her favorite words currently are: No, Uh huh...,This is a..., Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Grammy, Where, Why, What is this, Cereal, Baby, Puppy (or Rar-Rar), Doggy, Kitty, More, All Done, Shoe, Sock, Blanket, Milk, Drink, Water, Waffle, Please, Thank you, Welcome (instead of you're welcome), Sorry, Up, Buckle, Tree, Leaf, Down, Book, Going, Eat, Sleepy, Stairs, Brush Teeth, OK, etc... I'm sure there are more but I can't think of them off the top of my head. It's hard to believe that in 4 short months she'll be two. Where did that time go? Feels like yesterday I was painfully swollen, 7,000 lbs and praying she would leave the human hot tub she was living in. Glad she's on the outside, it's a lot more fun for all of us.

That's all for now!

Christmas Eve Snow!

2009-12-24T08:25:00.001-08:00

So we awoke this morning to a FOOT of snow in our front yard! How fun is it to have a white Christmas, even if it's a white Christmas Eve... So of course we had to put McKenna in her snow suit, traipse her outside, and make her play in it. She's walking, but apparently snow walking is harder than she expected...

Then of course we had to pile up a whole bunch of snow and toss her in it...

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family near and far! We miss those of you who can't be with us this Christmas season...

Love: John, Lindsay & McKenna Boyle

Playing with Grandma's New Camera

2009-11-08T11:09:00.001-08:00

John, McKenna and I visited my mom and step-dad in California last week to walk in the Huntington Beach Alzheimer's walk and attend my friend Jocelyn's bridal shower. We were able visit with Aunt Blair & Uncle Jared, see my cousins and spend time with Great-Grandpa, we had a great time!

My Mom got new camera for her upcoming birthday (November 29th... only 21 shopping days left) so of course we needed to try it out... since John and I are 'professionals' (most of the good shots are as a direct result of the camera being amazing, not us being amazing).

Here are some of the fun photos we took:

It was Halloween while we were in California, we brought along McKenna's costume. She was a Marshmallow Peep this year, and lasted in her costume for about 10 minutes. Just long enough for this photo op (taken with our point and shoot, don't blame the nice camera for the bad lighting):

Basically, I'm compiling black mail photos for her senior ad in her high school yearbook. I believe all parents should do this. Pretty pictures aren't nearly as entertaining to look at. Something has to make her ad stand out other than her amazing looks. Hopefully she doesn't hate me for my evil nature... maybe she'll appreciate it one day, or at least have sufficient fodder for her Mommy Dearest novel.

A Visit From Grandma!

2009-10-05T12:37:00.001-07:00

I'm going to stop making excuses for not blogging more often. I'm busy. That's going to be my permanent excuse. Hopefully McKenna will forgive me some day. This is for you McKenna... Your mom had a job, a one year old, a husband, and a very active travel schedule during this period of your life... sorry I didn't spend more time blogging, but honestly, I wanted to spend more time with you rather than writing about you.

That being said, I do have a moment for a quick update! Our little baby girl isn't so little anymore... she's still not walking (which is totally fine by us, seeing as she's easier to chase when she's crawling), she does cruise around the furniture, walls, stairs, bookcase, trunk, coffee table, she talks constantly and uses her baby crack, er, Baby Sigining Time experience for good use, she can sign: eat, more, all done, baby, bear, bug, please, shoes, sleep, book... I'm sure there are more she hasn't mastered yet so to me they don't look like anything.

She still loves her red wagon that Aunt Blair got her for her birthday. Here are some photos of her climbing in, out, around, on top of, over it etc...

Also, Grandma came to visit this month! We had so much fun... sadly, McKenna was coming down with the flu during most of Grandma's visit (yes, the real flu, not the stomach flu) so she wasn't her normal outgoing self. She did let Grandma hold her while she watched Baby Signing Time. Here are some pictures:

And finally, here's one picture of her wearing a sweatshirt that Nancy Cowden bought for her last fall, and I thought she'd never fit into it... look how tall she is now!

Blogging Sabatical is Over...

2009-08-31T07:20:00.001-07:00

Alright, enough is enough. No more heckling people...I will post. I had to go back to work in the office full time after McKenna's birthday on the 24th of July, and thus have run out of time for blogging... not to mention the fact that McKenna had the stomach flu for a week... so I will take a few moments to update everyone on what's been going on in BMac's life.

Since my last post, McKenna has learned all sorts of new tricks, is a crawling speed demon, has learned to say: 'wow,' 'baby,' 'bear,' 'yah,' and 'no.' She no longer drinks from a bottle, drinks cow's milk instead of formula and has proven to be quite the adventurous eater. Some of her favorite foods include, salmon, filet mignon, tilapia, barbecued chicken, grilled vegetables, corn on the cob (or off the cob in her case) and grilled pizza (yes, really grilled, as in made on the grill).

She had a fantastic birthday, complete with 40 of her closest friends (I'm still recovering from that shindig). Her Aunt Blair sent her a sweet Radio Flyer wagon for her birthday, here she is with it after I put it together:

=

The night before her birthday, we made pizza on the grill... as you can see she thoroughly enjoyed it:

Then on her actual birthday we took her to the municipal water park, called the Broomfield Bay. She had a blast, but John and I were less enthusiastic... it was probably the most dangerous pool we've ever been to, and in my estimation they needed about twice as many guards on their main pool (I have high standards, Wild Rivers has ruined me). Here are some pictures of us in the pool:

As I mentioned earlier, we had a huge party for BMac's Birthday, we had about 40 people in our little house... which would have been fine, if people could have spent time in the yard as originally planned, but of course, like a typical Colorado summer day, it rained.

Here's a picture from the party:
Here's a link to the rest of the pics.

BMac also had the worst stomach flu I've ever experienced a few weeks ago... even though she doesn't look sick in these pictures, she really was... but I needed to take pictures of her new reading chair...
Ok. That's all I've got for now... More in the future, I promise.

Amazing Crawling Baby...

2009-07-02T14:00:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while, but we've been busy! John and I went to Mexico for a week and while we were away McKenna started to test out her motoring skills... I don't consider it legitimate crawling, what she's doing now is legit.

Here was her previous method of moving... which was extremely frustrating to her...

Then she finally did it! Here she is crawling successfully forward (deliberately at least) for the first time on video:

And because of her new crawling ability, she's found the stairs...

I can't believe how much faster she's become since I made these videos. I'll have to shoot some more so that you all can see the newer, speedier McKenna. I'm beginning preparations for the first birthday extravaganza... more on that later.

McKenna's First French Kiss...

2009-06-07T07:55:00.000-07:00

So while I was in Illinois visiting my friends the Pittman's... holding cute little Sam and running around with Josh, McKenna was at home breaking rules... I know now that I cannot wait to have the birds and bees talk with my 10 month old daughter... she is way too advanced to not receive the 'how far is too far' speech. I've warned her multiple times that boys are only interested in one thing, yet she still didn't listen to me. Thankfully Dad was there to capture the moment on video so that I could explain which parts of her actions were inappropriate. McKenna, when you're reading this later in life, know that I was only acting in your best interests and I understand that it's tempting to make out with every boy that asks... I know Jack is handsome, but that isn't an excuse. All I want is for you to have a little self control. That's it. That's all I ask. Wait for mister right, not mister right now. Here's the offending behavior with McKenna and Jack:

I think I'm going to go wash her mouth out with soap now... mostly because I kiss that mouth, and apparently she gives kisses to any person (or animal) that's willing.

Eww...

A Test of Patience... and I Failed MISERABLY.

2009-06-02T15:17:00.000-07:00

This has been one of the most frustrating days I've experienced in recent memory. McKenna is getting so big, and so mobile... I knew this day would come. The day when I'd have to move her crib mattress into the lowest position. This morning when I went in to get her, she was sitting up in her crib, I thought it might have been a fluke. Then after her morning nap, she was sitting up again... then this afternoon she was more talkative in her crib than normal. I went up there to investigate, and this is what I found: I chose to sit her on the floor with some books, and I headed to the garage to get some tools. McKenna now crawls backwards, so she had wedged herself against the wall which made her cry. I moved her into the middle of the room again, and went to work on the crib. I got out the instructions so I'd remember how to remove the drop side... that part was simple enough, except for the fact that the instructions were written by a non-native English speaker. That's where the simple process ended. McKenna has begun to have separation anxiety in the last few weeks, and that includes anytime she can't see my face (I am ridiculously good looking). I was on my hands and knees removing the ma tress frame, and she couldn't see all of me... she lost her mind. Here's proof: So after I rocked her for 10 minutes so that she would stop freaking out, we went to the basement together got the Pack N Play, put it in the guest room and I laid her in it... finally she fell asleep. One point Mommy.

I proceeded to go back to work on the crib, which I'm convinced was intended to be put together by gnomes, seeing as my hands are too big to fit between the legs and crib sides to screw in the ma tress frame. Not only are my hands too big, they provided me with an Allen wrench that is so small I could hardly get a grip on it. Once I got the crib a part, it look like a bomb went off in McKenna's room:
I wish I'd had a tape recorder to catalogue my inner monologue, but I fear it would have been censored by Blogger. It was that hard to put the thing back together. It took me an HOUR. For those of you who know me well, you know that I am pretty technical, I have never met a 'some assembly' required project that has bested me. This one almost did. Best evidenced by this picture (note that I put the drop side on backwards):
When it was all said and done, I was pouring sweat, wishing death on the crib's manufacturer and designer, and vowing to buy a new crib for the next kid because I'm going to have a bonfire to celebrate McKenna's move to a big girl bed. I swear I showered today, even though it doesn't look like it: I had apparently blocked from my little pea brain how difficult it was for John to assemble this thing in the first place. NEVER AGAIN.

On a lighter note, our friends JJ & Angie came up with their new son Daniel for dinner last night... here are some pics of McKenna & Daniel playing together and the proud Dad's with their kiddos:

McKenna's Thirst (or Taste) for Adventure

2009-05-12T07:43:00.000-07:00

The month of May has been filled with many adventures for McKenna thus far. She's really starting to be curious about the world around her. We've spent a lot of time outside exploring our backyard (all 5 square feet of it) looking at the different types of leaves, playing in the grass and learning about the vegetables in the vegetable garden. McKenna even had her first swimming experience, albeit in our hot tub, not a real pool. We can tell she's going to be a fish like John. Here she is sitting on my lap in the tub:

I think I previously posted about McKenna's toy baskets that we have under the sofa table in our living room, she's now figured out that if she scoots all the way under the table, she can reach inside, or tip them over, or climb inside:

She also has discovered a great love for baseball caps, meaning she takes after me. Here she is enjoying mine as a snack:

Speaking of snacks, McKenna loves to share her snacks with us. Here are a couple of videos of her sharing her Cheerios with us:

And finally, like every parent I believe I have the smartest baby ever... this video proves it:

I'm sure we'll have more pictures to post later this month!

As Promised... 9 Month Stats

2009-05-01T14:17:00.000-07:00

Ok, here they are:

Height: 28 1/2" - 70th percentile
Weight: 20 lbs, 1 oz - 80th percentile
Head Circumference: 18 1/4" - 95th percentile

The doc says she's happy, healthy and cute! The weirdest part of our whole visit was the news that babies are now supposed to stay in rear facing car seats until they're two... which means McKenna won't be able to experience the sheer joy of seeing out the front window for quite some time. Sad for her...but mostly sad for my back. She's HEAVY!!! So if anyone has any suggestions for new car seats that can be installed as rear facing and then changed to front facing when she's ready, let me know.

McKenna's 9 Months Old!

2009-04-29T19:50:00.000-07:00

So it's almost official, McKenna's almost been on the outside longer than she was on the inside. Tomorrow we are headed back to the doctor's office for the first time in three months for a checkup... I have a feeling she's going to be near the 100th percentile for everything, she seem huge to me. I guess it's possible that I have a skewed perspective, since we were able to meet Daniel Hendricks (who seemed like a miniature person) , McKenna's newest in a series of new friends:
It's so fun to us that our friends are all having kids so that they can grow up together. There will be many more new babies this year (at the time of this post, there are at least 4 'cookin'). We can't hardly wait! Let the exponential growth continue!

Ok, here's McKenna's 9 month update: She's going to crawl soon, really soon, much to my chagrin. My days of sitting her on the floor with a pile of toys to entertain her are almost over. She's already learning the meaning of the word "NO!" and I'm entirely certain she understands what it means. Everything still goes into her mouth... her hands, my hands, the hands of strangers, and most recently, the knee of my jeans while I was still wearing them.

Still no sign of the word "ma-ma" in her vocabulary, although I've heard her say 'ma,' (maybe it was 'muh') so either she's punishing me for telling her no, or she things it's funny to be withholding. She rolls all over the place in her crib, and I often find her sleeping face down with her head in the corner of her bed. And yes, it still scares the heck out of me. She is showing signs of separation anxiety, common for this age of babies, but really it's only separation from me (secretly I like it, makes me feel important), she cries when I leave the room.

She brings joy to everyone she meets; she smiles all the time... I really do think she's the happiest, most easy going, mellowest kid I've ever met, and I'm not just saying that because she's mine. She really is amazing. I'll write a short post tomorrow with her 9 month status after we visit the doctor... stay tuned.

Cheerios and Easter-ish Photos

2009-04-14T15:31:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened in the last few weeks, and I forgot to take pictures of most of it. Sad.

Grandma, Granddan, Uncle Jared & Aunt Blair came to visit... we had so much fun, and I didn't take a single picture of any of them... maybe they didn't actually come and we just dreamt it.

McKenna went on her first brewery tour, no pictures of that either. A child's first brewery tour is a seminal moment in a young life... and I have no evidence that it actually happened.

I did shoot a video of McKenna mastering the fine art of systematically shoving Cheerios into her face.

I also got a video of McKenna laughing at me while I try to get her to say, "Mama." She has been able to say, "Dada" for quite some time. She still can't say my name... but I think we'll get there eventually.

I finally had a softball game that was early enough in the evening that McKenna could come and show off her awesome softball jersey... when my mom saw these pictures, she asked if McKenna was playing 'shortstop' HA HA. So Funny, right? Or lame...

And, of course, I forgot to take pictures on Sunday when McKenna was dressed in her Easter best. So I put her in a cute outfit today and put her on our dead... I mean dormant lawn and took some pictures so I could at least remember this age.

Hopefully I'll remember to take pictures when McKenna turns one in July... we'll see.

McKenna Has a TOOTH!

2009-03-27T14:16:00.000-07:00

I know it's been less than 24 hours since my last post... but I thought everyone would like to know that the 'eagle has landed' ... the tooth has finally broken the skin! I am thrilled, not because I particularly wanted McKenna to have teeth (maybe she'd need them one day, but I don't want her to get older than this, we've already had long conversations about how she needs to stop growing), but because I wanted a good night's sleep... selfish I know.

She's been miserable for the last few days, so I'm sure this is a welcome release. Unfortunately for her, I've heard that the bottom two come together or in close succession...which means this respite will be short lived. My fingers are not looking forward to the continuing teething process. Here's a picture of our newest arrival (click on the photo for further detail):

The Blizzard of 2009

2009-03-26T13:34:00.001-07:00

I met John during the blizzard of 2003... some friends of mine made me drive them over to this guy's house during the blizzard to play Cranium during the blizzard, and that guy turned out to be my future husband... who knew? So fast forward 6 years to the same week, and BAM! Another blizzard. This time it's not nearly as snowy, but we have McKenna, so we get to take pictures of her in the snow which is really fun! Her little snowsuit is too short, thus we couldn't put up the hood with the cute little ears on it... but it was still her first experience sitting in the snow all by herself.

The Giant 8 Month Old Baby

2009-03-24T19:14:00.000-07:00

McKenna is officially 8 months old as of Tuesday. E I G H T... sounds impressive doesn't it? She's changed so much, her little personality is amazing. She laughs, claps, and feeds herself Cheerios. She's a regular (miniature) person.

Check out the difference between 1 day old and 8 months old:

She has also begun to throw herself from a sitting position onto her face/head/hands/side/front/back/etc... which unfortunately for her means she's face-planted on the granite fireplace hearth a few times. We finally wised up and bought a rug and a new chair for the unused space behind our couch so that she would have a soft landing strip for her new found love of flying.

Here are some pictures and a video of her trying out her new digs:

McKenna also graduated from the Bumbo chair (we'll bring it back to you, Mercer's...thanks for letting us borrow it) to a real high chair. She loves it, and with her added tray space, she now gets to feed herself Cheerios. It's like we've given her a special gift every time she gets a Cheerio, and because of that we're treated to a big cheesy grin.

Here she is sitting in her new throne (she's not feeding herself in these pictures, she's eating herself... she's working on her first tooth):

I saved the best for last... McKenna thinks that everything Dad does is soooo funny... In the following video (sorry it's a little dark), I was helping McKenna tickle Dad's toes... She's funny. I'm sure you'll agree. If you don't agree, lie to me and tell me that you do. That is all. Thank you.

There's Mud in Your Eye...

2009-03-14T19:59:00.000-07:00

In case anyone was wondering if baby spit up stings when it gets in your eyes, the answer is an emphatic yes... and the answer to the next logical question is, no, there will be no photos to commemorate this momentous occasion.

Tonight when John and I were putting McKenna to bed, John read her a bible story from The Jesus Storybook Bible, and I fed her a bottle and we prayed with her, which is similar to every other night of her little life. That's where the similarities ended. I stood up from the rocking chair to put McKenna in her crib... when all of a sudden she proceeded to sneeze and spit up at the same time. Did I mention she was facing me? Awesome. Thankfully, I was wearing my OSHA certified protective eyewear, but complete isolation was not achieved. Some droplets of stinky stuff still made it into my eyes. I am now wearing a completely different outfit and have washed my glasses with soap and water... dried them... they still were gross, and now they have been cleaned with Windex.

I have been so damaged by the contamination that I think I will call it a night and head for bed. Ah, the joys of Motherhood.

Bath Time and a Visit from Grandma and Great-Grandpa

2009-03-07T10:26:00.000-08:00

Grandma and Great-Grandpa came to visit last week to celebrate the birthday extravaganza that happens around here during the month of February. Aunt Catherine's birthday is on the 12th, Aunt Mary's is on the 17th and so is mine and finally John and Great-Grandpa's birthday's are on the 18th. Needless to say we eat a lot of birthday cake in February.

In preparation for Great-Grandpa's visit, McKenna brushed up on her knowledge of the global financial marketplace and economic forecasts for the US and International Markets. Here she is reading the Kiplinger Letter:

We had a great time while Grandma and Great-Grandpa were visiting, McKenna learned how to clap, and we drove Great-Grandpa all over the state and once to the chiropractor (plane seats are not made for people his height). Here are some photos that we took on the lawn at church:

I thought I'd also include some photos of McKenna's new tub skills... seeing as everyone likes naked babies (except the babies themselves, when their parents bust out the naked pictures when they're teenagers..."oh look how cute she was, all pudgy and naked in the tub...") She has decided that playing with rubber duckies and splashing around is pretty awesome.

More Rolls than a Bakery...

2009-02-21T11:53:00.000-08:00

McKenna was hanging out with John this morning, without any clothes on...(after I wrote this I realized my previous statement might be misconstrued. **Disclaimer, McKenna was naked, not John** No need to censor the following photos from our younger viewers)... and I realized that her rolls are rapidly disappearing. She's getting so much taller, which unfortunately means that she's not going to be a pudge-muffin (John's term, not mine) forever. I figured I better take a few photos to preserve the wrist-rolls and thunder thighs for posterity.

Here she is laying on the floor of her room. Again, please note, John IS wearing clothes:

I'm sure her foot was previously in her mouth before this picture was taken:

I'd like to direct you to the triple chin in this photo, one of the inner-chins is obscured by an outer one:

Now we're showing off her excellent sitting skills:

She'll be 7 months old on Tuesday, I can't hardly believe it!

There isn't a straw long enough to reach the bottom of my bottle of wine...

2009-02-09T18:31:00.000-08:00

John hijacked my blog today to tell you about McKenna's first word. I'm drowning my sorrows at this moment... I was hoping I could get her to say 'ma ma' first, but alas, all of my hard work was to no avail. I will polish off this bottle of wine to comfort me in my hour of distress...

McKenna Says Dada Part Deux

2009-02-09T18:16:00.000-08:00

Just in case there was any confusion or question about whether or not McKenna said her first word today, this should clear that all up.

Even Lindsay agrees that this is an "official" Dada!

Breaking News!

2009-02-09T08:08:00.001-08:00

Hi. This is John. I have hijacked the blog from Lindsay with an important breaking news update. This morning, McKenna said her first word! Lindsay claims it isn't official, but I disagree.

Check out this video and tell me what you think...

We now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

Stick a Sock in it!

2009-02-04T19:07:00.001-08:00

So the kid was mouthing off, so I yelled at her and told her to stick a sock in it... Ok, not really. McKenna has discovered a new fetish... sticking anything and everything in her mouth. Among her favorites are: 1. My fingers 2. Anyone else's fingers 3. Her toes 4. Anything else within arms reach. Recently she discovered that she can pull off her socks and stick them in her mouth... here's a photographic play by play:

The last photo obviously proves the scripture verse, "Everything is permissible for me"—but not everything is beneficial." - 1 Corinthians 6:12. I believe that Paul was specifically speaking about the ramifications of putting a sock in one's mouth. It is permissable, but not beneficial. McKenna has learned this lesson the hard way.

My little baby girl is becoming so independent, as is her hair... which you can plainly see from the following photos. She loves to play in her exersaucer, and especially enjoys the spinny things, as I wrote in a previous post. She has such an amazing little personality, and is truly a joy to be around. She makes me laugh out loud almost every hour of every day. The noises that she makes are the best part... someday I hope to catch them on video to share with all of you. She's such a funny kid. I can't wait for her to start talking, I think she'll have lots of interesting things to say. I imagine most of those things will in some way surround poop jokes... which means she'll take after me.
...I mean seriously, she's like a real person! Sadly, she has yet to realize that I if I wanted her to have an opinion I'd give her one... she'll catch on soon enough. I rule with an IRON fist. Don't mess with me.
That's all for now.

McKenna Sits Up!

2009-01-20T19:46:00.000-08:00

For the last couple weeks McKenna has become much better at holding herself up and we just knew we she was almost ready to sit up all by herself. Tonight when we were on iChat with Aunt Blair, John set McKenna on the bed and she sat up all by herself for the first time. Of course we immediately grabbed the camera to document it. Without further adieu ... here is McKenna sitting up all by herself!

Video Evidence...

2009-01-19T18:40:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

I know it's been several weeks since my last post, my mom reminded me of this fact earlier today. So I thought I would make this an especially fun post, filled with videos and the stories that go along with them. We have been making an effort lately to use the video camera to document McKenna's "tricks," since she may only do them for a short while. So here they are, for your viewing pleasure...

Video #1:

McKenna thinks it's hilarious when John makes the 'b' sound. She doesn't think it's funny at all when I make the same noise. She's strange. She tries so hard to make the same sound, but instead her tongue squirts out and she makes a 'pffftttt' sound. Pretty funny in my opinion... again, it's only my opinion, you can disagree if you want to, but you'll be wrong.

Video #2:

I taught McKenna a skill every young woman should know... the art of blowing raspberries. Don't mess with her, she'll stick her tongue out at you. Seriously.

Video #3:

Because of the popularity of the video entitled, "McKenna Eats Rice Cereal," we chose to capture the moment when she tried sweet peas mixed with rice cereal. I give you, "McKenna Eats Peas"* (*Disclaimer: The Director of the afore mentioned video makes no claim that the sequel is anywhere near as entertaining as the original... which is a good thing if you're the person eating the peas, it means that you don't hate them. Sorry it's not that exciting)

Video #4:

McKenna plays in her ExerSaucer. I really don't have anything clever to say about this one. She likes the little spinny-thing. I'm hoping that she'll start to like sitting in it without me pointing out the toys and helping her push the buttons soon. I have finally mastered all of the different pully-things, and pushy-things, and soon I hope to conquer the spinny-thing. Supposedly it will help us both with 10 stages of development, I fear McKenna will reach them before I do. She's already passed the spinny-thing level.

And finally... some photos. See I told you this was going to be an especially entertaining post.

McKenna has recently discovered her feet. They are the best toy she's ever received... She now promptly rips off her socks at every available opportunity, and puts her feet in her mouth. I wonder if this is how 'hoof & mouth' disease is spread?

I recently bought McKenna this cute outfit. As you can tell from this photo, she's pretending not to like it.

Here she is professing her love for her cute plaid skirt... I mean, seriously, how could she not love this outfit?

That's all for now, I'm done being clever for tonight. More some other time.

Merry (Belated) Christmas

2008-12-30T12:28:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas all! I didn't have my act together enough to actually get cleaned up, take pictures as a family, find everyone's address, make Christmas cards, go to the post office and send them. Maybe I'll be more organized next year. In the mean time, I thought I'd share a bunch of pictures I took to commemorate McKenna's first Christmas. I tortured her the way my mom used to torture me... "Just 500 more pictures McKenna, hold still...smile pretty..."

This is the best one I think:

Here is a small excerpt of the photos I took to get the one good one:

We also went to about 734 Christmas parties over the course of the last week, not that I'm saying they weren't fun, I'm just saying there were a lot of them... we started with the Church staff Christmas party, moved on to Jim & Lynn's, Stambaugh Family Christmas, and on and on and on and on... did I mention we weren't done yet? We still have my office 'Holiday' party on the 9th. It's like the gift that keeps on giving. Here are some pictures from Stambaugh Family Christmas, notice McKenna's Christmas dress... courtesy of Lynn... I've heard that it looks remarkably like something her daughters would have worn when they were McKenna's age; old habits die hard ;-).

And, finally just for fun, McKenna's witness protection photos:

I noticed that she covered her own face with a sock while she was playing on her play mat. Just hanging out there with a sock over her eyes, for who knows how long. She's a strange child. It's a pretty soft sock, maybe she liked the combination of soft and dark?

That's all for now. I hope this post finds you happy and healthy and ready for the new year. Talk to you next year!

Who do you think she looks like?

2008-12-22T11:57:00.000-08:00

For the Church Christmas party last week, Deb asked me for some photos of John and I when we were little at Christmas time, and some photos of the three of us. As I was going through our photo albums, I found some pictures of John and some of me from when we were babies... I'll let you decide who she looks like. I still think it's open to debate.

Family Christmas!

2008-12-16T09:28:00.000-08:00

Hi All, I know it's been a long time since my last post... we've been busy around here, and are about to get busier with Christmas coming soon. We have been in California for the last week visiting family and going to our annual "Tomblin Family Christmas" party, and then having an early Christmas with my Mom, Step-Dan, Sister and Brother-in-law.

I wanted to post some pictures of McKenna getting a bath in Grandma's kitchen sink, I thought they were pretty cute. I removed the x-rated ones out of consideration for our younger viewers.

Tomblin Family Christmas was an interesting experience as usual, it's fun to see every one even if it is only once a year. It's a little weird to see all of my cousins that are around my same age (most are much, much older) with their own careers and kids.

Then we went to my sister and Jared's house for our gift exchange, it was great spending time with everyone.

I would like to make a small complaint regarding my flight home... beyond the fact that we had to get into our car when it was -8. McKenna had a devil child behind her on the flight home. She was sleeping, minding her own business when 'Chucky' decided that it would be an awesome idea to kick her seat 5,000,000 times and scream at the top of his lungs to get his parent's attention. I think the armrests at my seat have permanent finger marks from me gripping them so hard to avoid choking the kid first, and the parents second. My favorite part of their dicipline for the little jerk was when they said, "I'm mad at you, so I'm going to pretend that you're not here" which made him screech at the top of his lungs until they decided to pay attention to him again, thus (in my opinion) reinforcing his horrible behavior. I also appreciated the "I'm going to take away your shoes if you keep kicking that chair..." So he just kicked it without shoes, SUCH and improvement. My poor little Mac was wide eyed and shaking because he was screaming so loudly, she was scared to death. What a way to be woken up from a Tylenol induced coma... Anyway... I had a screaming baby on the plane, so people were staring at me (she was inconsolable, because everytime she quieted down, that awful kid started in again with the screeching and kicking) which could have been entirely avoided had these parents been able to control their kid. I should have chose my seat more wisely... I saw him pulling on his 'leash' in the airport and they couldn't control him there either.

I realize I've been a parent for about 10 minutes, so maybe I don' t know what it's like, but c'mon, seriously...

Enough ranting for one post I think.

Our First Experience with Rice Cereal...

2008-12-01T20:04:00.001-08:00

Thought you all would like to see how much McKenna enjoyed her first experience with rice cereal. She loved it so much that she stopped me while I was feeding her to thank me for sharing such a delicious treat with her. I captured the precious moment on video for your viewing pleasure:

Turkey Weekend & Laura's Visit

2008-12-01T09:11:00.001-08:00

We had a busy Thanksgiving weekend, filled with lots and lots of snow, which was a nice change of pace from the 70 degree weather we had for most of November. We rented a condo at the base of the Super Bee lift at Copper Mountain for the weekend, and headed up the mountain after work on Wednesday. You can see from these pictures how McKenna feels about John's driving... notice the white knuckles:
McKenna basically was never put down for the entire weekend, and is going through 'being held' withdrawals now that we're home, here she is sitting on the table with her great-grandpa:
We went to the Stalders(family friends) for Thanksgiving dinner, ate a huge dinner and took some family photos in front of their fireplace:

On Friday we decided to go for a walk around Copper Mountain, since we didn't bring our skis (there were only 6 runs out of 120 open) so McKenna was able to don her new snow suit:

Had to take a picture in this giant Adirondack chair:
When we came home on Saturday my friend Laura came over with her son Josh, her Mom Nancy, and her sister Sarah and Sarah's boys Mason and Riley... it was so fun to see them. Here's a picture of Laura, Josh, McKenna and Me:

Baby Dedication Sunday & Other Randomness

2008-11-25T10:50:00.001-08:00

I know it's been a while, but I haven't had time to even look at McKenna's blog, let alone update it! So maybe I'll make this a long post, we'll see how I feel as I go on.

Last things first, I took McKenna to her four month check up today. She weighed 15lbs 4oz and was 25 3/4 inches tall... which means she's grown 3 3/4 inches and gained 4 lbs since her last visit to the doctor! She's in the 80th percentile for weight and the 90th percentile for height... I'm guessing she doesn't get the height from me.

Every day McKenna's becoming more of a little girl and less of a baby, which is fun but sad all at the same time. She's more interested in playing with her toys and lying by herself than cuddling with me and falling asleep on me anymore. Here she is playing on her activity mat:
The Mercer's lent us their Bumbo seat, and she thinks it's fun to sit on the coffee table in it and stare at the TV:
This is what happens when you watch too much TV:

My mom (aka, Grandma), came out to visit for the weekend because McKenna was being dedicated at church on Sunday; Grandma Christy, Ma & Pa (John's Grandparents) and Aunts Mary & Catherine were also on hand to witness the event. Instead of baptizing infants, our church has dedication ceremonies. A baby dedication is a commitment that parents make to raise their children as followers of Christ, and when the kids are old enough to make a faith decision of their own, then they can choose to be baptized. We wanted to dedicate McKenna to say publicly that we realize that McKenna is a gift from God and that we need His help, shepherding, strength and guidance to raise her... and to tell others what a joy she is in our lives! We can't imagine a world without her in it, she is an immeasurable blessing! Here are some photos from the dedication:

Of course I had to use the picture of her in the tub for the screen...I had to solidify her position as 'cutest baby ever.'
Next to us here are the Osborne's and their son, Brody (McKenna's boyfriend):

On our other side are the Britton's and their son Malachi, and the Turrill's and their daughter Mimi:
Here's John praying for McKenna:
Later McKenna will think I'm a loser for all of the strange faces I make in pictures, for now she doesn't mind:
That's all for now... we're off to Vail for Turkey Day, I'm sure there will be pictures from our mountain adventures, and of course from Laura & Josh's upcoming visit. I think I'll end with an exclamaition point, since I've used about 72 of them in this post! One more for good measure!

The Many Faces of McKenna...

2008-11-07T16:03:00.000-08:00

As I was trying to capture of film (ok, technically not film, digital SD card if you want to be precise) the fact that McKenna's eye color is starting to change...hopefully to mine, so she'll at least have ONE of my features... I noticed all of the different expressions that she makes. So after you look at her new, half-baked eye color, please take a second (or 30 minutes) to paruse the different faces that this little baby makes.

See, don't you think her eyes are changing:

Here are all of her expressions...

Stunned:

Giddy:

Goofy:

Confused:

Contemplative:

Inquisative:

Satisfied:

Elated:

Mischievous:

Sly:

Plain old happy:

Concerned:

Spastic:

Because my mom made me...

2008-11-04T18:12:00.000-08:00

My mom was complaining today that I hadn't posted in a while, so to avoid her wrath (and the wrath of Jocelyn) I will write something. Since I haven't written anything in quite some time, I'll make this a long (and random) post.

McKenna is getting so big, she's already grown out of the PJ's that Grandma bought her while we were in California, is about to be too big for size one diapers, and loves to spend time by herself when all I want to do is hold her. She's started to roll over when she lays on her activity mat and as you can see she wants to sit by my side like a big girl:
She still likes to sleep with her arms behind her head like her friend Josh...please take note of the folds in her thighs...no one can say we don't feed her...
She loves to make noises and have people imitate her, she thinks it's funny, and she laughs a little bit. I like the laughing, it's a good software upgrade, I think we're at version 2.1.1 at this point (maybe no one outside of my office will think this is funny...)

We work every day on her core strength, I think of it as baby pilates. She holds on to my fingers and lays down and pulls up to sit up. Soon she'll be sitting up on her own. Here she is sitting unsupported for a second or two, it helps if I make her hold her feet.
I told you this was going to be random... this is a picture of her wearing the duck slippers that her Aunt Blair bought her... I almost forgot we had them, good thing I put them on her before she outgrew them.
Remember earlier when I said she'd be sitting up by herself soon? Look she's doing it... on the kitchen counter, on a box, all by herself (ok, maybe not all by herself, but it looks like it doesn't it? John's ducking behind the counter)

Here's McKenna in her Halloween costume, she was a car air freshener... she made our house smell like PineSol... I received a lot of compliments on my little tree when I took her trick-or-treating at my office, I think I'll buy her costume from the same place next year. Maybe she'll be a hot dog, or perhaps a whoopie cushion.
I mean seriously, look at that smile, can you believe how stinking cute she is?

Here's McKenna with a stuffed bear that John's grandparents got for her at Bank of the West... she seems to like to put it's feet in her mouth, which sounds gross to me, but she must be ok with it.

Here's a picture of her ever growing mullett. I am debating about whether or not to cut it. Thoughts? I think it looks a little ridiculous with the bald spot that's also growing on the back of her head.
I think it's interesting the time babies become interactive and start showing their personalities, coincides with the time that we have to go back to work. Doesn't make sense to me. Maybe the US should adopt the policy of a year of maternity leave that some European and Middle Eastern countries have. I'd be all for it. I already am missing important things, like the first time she really laughed. She did it for Grandma Christy, and although she did it for me today while I was working from home, it's not the same. I pray that the work I'm doing is helping people on some level (I certainly hope it helps someone, we make brain surgery equipment, if that's not helping someone then we're doing something wrong), because just collecting a paycheck isn't worth it in my opinion. It's not that I don't like working, I just think it's fun playing with McKenna all day long. She does interesting things and I don't want to miss them. I'm sure that I'll get back in the swing of things soon enough, but the frusterations (see: Politics, gossip, whining, selfish people) of work get to me, and they didn't used to. Thankfully there are still a few bright spots...and bright people. I said to one of my co-workers the other day that I remembered why work drives some people to drink. So true. I will continue to suck it up... I promise.

I realize it's only been an hour...

2008-10-26T17:34:00.000-07:00

...but I just had to pack up most of McKenna's newborn to three months clothes. I didn't think that I'd be sad about it, but I am. I can't believe my baby's not a newborn anymore. I got a little choked up when I saw the little hat and onesie that we brought her home from the hospital in. I have no idea how hard it will be when I look at all this stuff when she's going to high school or college, or getting married or having babies of her own.

Nasal Aspirators are My Best Friends...

2008-10-26T16:34:00.001-07:00

So the cold we thought McKenna had a few weeks ago, was pale in comparison to the cold she has this week. I always feel so bad using the bulb syringe when her nose is stuffed up, but this week it has been unavoidable. She looks at me as if I were trying to suck her brain out through her left nostril every time I try to help her breathe. Sorry McKenna, it's for your own good.

Because she's been so congested, I've had about 4 hours sleep total in the last two days. The night before last was the worst one, she only wanted to sleep on me, and to sleep sitting straight up. I had to come down stairs at 4 am and sit with her in our leather chair. Good times. John read somewhere that we should prop up the head of her crib mattress so that she could breathe easier. We discovered that gravity works, even in McKenna's bed.

My idea was to put the pillow at her feet to keep her from sliding down... you can see that didn't work at all. She seems to have a good attitude about life even though she's not feeling well, or maybe she just thinks we're ridiculous... who really knows.

We also decided that giving her a warm bath might help with her stuffy head (in addition to the saline drops, humidifier, and baby vapor rub), she seemed to agree... what do you think?

Hopefully she'll be on the mend soon, but in the mean time, I'll continue to torture her with the nasal aspirator.

Did I ever really leave?

2008-10-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

My desk looks the same, except that someone stole my mouse... who does that? Even my wall calendar hasn't changed since I left. My due date is still marked on it, even though we all know that I didn't make it until then. This morning was rough. I didn't sleep at all last night, I had some pretty intense nightmares about work, and then I just stared at the ceiling from about 3am until it was time to get in the shower this morning. I guess I thought it wouldn't be a big deal to just leave my little Mac when she was 12 weeks old and go right back to work. I was wrong. This is hard. It's going to be a big adjustment for the both of us in the next few weeks until I get the hang of this again. It's a good thing I said I was committed to coming back before I left in July... I don't think I could have done this if I hadn't given my word before hand. Stupid integrity.

Reasons I'm a Bad Mother, entry #722 of ???

2008-10-16T15:42:00.000-07:00

We've had a pretty eventful day today, we went to coffee with Mackenzie Turrill and her daughter Mimi, you can see pictures on Mackenzie's blog. Then we got home, McKenna ate some lunch, and I put her down for her first afternoon nap. She cried for a few minutes and went to sleep just as she usually does, then about an hour into her nap I heard her fuss for a few minutes, which regularly happens as well. I thought nothing of it, and didn't go check on her (here's where the bad mother part comes into play) and then 3:30 arrived, time for McKenna's next meal. She hadn't made a peep, so I went to go wake her up and change her diaper. Here's what I found:
Yes, that's my baby whose face is completely covered by a blanket, and about a foot away from where I put her in her sleep positioner (and yes, she does have a CU Buffaloes Ralphie Mobile, I know you all think we're crazy, but we don't care...she is lulled to sleep by the CU fight song, in the tune of a lullaby, "Fight CU down the field, CU must win..."). Good thing the blanket was just a receiving blanket and a really thin one at that. She doesn't seem to have suffered any ill effects:
She was, however, irritated with me for waking her up:

Also, McKenna absolutely hates tummy time, and I've been trying to think of creative ways to get her to do it, because at this point I fear I may still be carrying her around when she's 32. "Mom, I need to go to work, can I have a piggy back?" So, anyway, I read on some website that Boppy pillows work well to get kids who don't like tummy time to work on it, and then eventually they can be transitioned to lying flat on their tummies, and will learn to crawl, walk, pay their own bills, become Mensa scholars etc...

So here was my first attempt at laying McKenna on the Boppy. As you can see from the photo, she has really good head control, but still doesn't want to use her arms... so I let her try until she screams. It's exhausting, for me, I don't think she cares at all that she tortures me with her sad little face. See how much she enjoys it? Look at the huge, gigantic smile on her face:

Maybe she'll never have any upper body strength, and she'll have noodles for arms that she has to swing and flip up onto things to get them to do anything, like Elastigirl from The Incredibles, only without the freakish stretching. These are the things I think about during the day. Sad, I know.

Also sad, I fear my posts are about to get fewer and farther between (sorry Jocelyn), I have to go back to work on MONDAY. Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. McKenna will be ok. Me, I'm not so sure, the jury is still out on that one.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

2008-10-12T07:37:00.000-07:00

McKenna went on her first plane ride this week, the three of us went to California for a church conference that John attended at North Coast Church in San Diego called "Sticky Church" and for my Grandma's funeral. We spent the first half of the week in San Diego with my sister and her husband, and the second half of the week with my Mom and Dan. This is going to be long post... there are lots of pictures to share!

McKenna now smiles on demand, which makes for cuter pictures. Here she is before we left the house last Saturday. I think I said, "Are you excited to go see Grandma?" and this is the face I got from her:
We went to the airport around one o'clock on Saturday, and I literally had to wake her up to feed her before we got on the plane. She loves the car, train, and elevators for their white noise. Here she is on the train:

I gave her a little baby tylenol and had her suck on a pacifier when the plane was taking off, and she slept the entire way to San Diego:

Blair's in-law's own a bakery in Cardiff By the Sea, so of course we had to get McKenna her first doughnut, it's a right of passage for every 11 week old for those of you who didn't know...here's Aunt Blair helping her with her chocolate glazed with sprinkles (it's the one she asked us to get for her):
Speaking of rights of passage, we decided McKenna also needed to go to the beach. We strapped on her shades, and took her down on the sand in Cardiff. Here's a family photo and a picture of her standing in the sand (sort of):

After the conference was over, we went up to my Mom's in Orange County. McKenna got to meet Great-Grandpa. It's obvious from these pictures that they enjoyed each other. Grandpa calls her "Mac" which is pretty cute:

One of my oldest friends (as in length of time we've been friends, not her age ;-) ) came to see us on Friday night, McKenna took an instant liking to her as you can see from her goofy smile:

Aunt Blair bought McKenna this little pumpkin hat (which is already too small for her head, I had to wedge her head into it to take this picture) and Grandma bought her the candy corn PJ's to go with the hat, they say "Boo" on the bottoms of the feet:

After a whirlwind week of highs and lows, it was time to come home. McKenna got completely off her schedule, and I'm pretty sure she was having a growth spurt because she was eating about every two hours. She was in good spirits when we went back to the airport, she loves sitting up like a big girl! There's a video too, sorry that it's sideways, I can't figure out how to fix that...my smart husband is at work when I need him:

As you can see, she slept the whole flight home too:
When we got outside we had to wait for the bus for about 10 minutes, which felt more like 1o years, seeing as McKenna was the only one who had a sweatshirt. Both John and I were wearing t-shirts and I even had flip flops on. It was raining/snowing while we were waiting for the bus to take us to the Mt. Elbert parking lot by way of Mongolia.

Here was the weather report while we were standing on the curb (yes that says 39 DEGREES):

...and yes, those white dots in the picture are snowflakes :-(

When we got home, it was only 55 degrees in our house, we had to leave the fireplace and the heater on all night, McKenna even had to wear a hat to bed, you can see that she loved it!

All things considered, we had a good time and it was nice to see my family...sad that we had to come home to winter.

Smile captured on video...

2008-10-02T14:52:00.000-07:00

So I did it. I finally caught her smiling on video. It only took like 57 tries and 10 weeks, but I got it. I don't think there is anything quite as fun as trying to get McKenna to smile, John and I spend most of our waking moments (or technically her waking moments, she seems to sleep slightly more often than we do) attempting to coax a smile from her. She's now cooing when she smiles too, which is a newly added and very nice upgrade. You may have to be patient if you want to view this video(I personally think it's worth it, although I am unashamedly biased), it's a rather large file, since I thought it was funny that she starts to pout at the end, so I didn't want to stop taping. These are the things I do when I don't have TV to distract me... I mean, talk about productive!!

Sitting up, sort of...

2008-09-29T15:14:00.000-07:00

So the other night when we were watching USC get the junk beat out of them, we were depressed (ok, I was depressed, John could care less), so we decided to stick McKenna in our big leather chair to see if she would sit there for a while. It now is her new favorite thing to do. We prop her up between the arm and the back of the chair, and she'll sit there for a half an hour or so.

We didn't discover for several minutes that she needs the arm to sit up, here's a video of what happens when we sit her in the middle of the chair instead of against the arm:

Lots o' shots...

2008-09-24T14:05:00.000-07:00

Although this picture was not taken today, it is representative of how things are going for McKenna at this moment. She had to get the first battery of vaccinations today, not to mention the fact that she caught John's cold, she is not a happy camper. She keeps falling asleep, but then can't breathe through her nose which wakes her up. No amount of baby tylenol can make her feel better at this point I fear. Poor thing. Hopefully tomorrow she'll be on the mend.

I was right however about her weight, she's now a pudgy 11 lbs 0.5 oz, and 23 inches tall (or long depending upon how you look at it).

Word to my homies...

2008-09-22T16:42:00.000-07:00

McKenna received this bag in the mail from some family friends of ours the Denk's from Arizona. I decided that it would be fun to take some pictures of McKenna in the bag to send to them... she decided to flash the peace sign (or gang signs, looks like 'west side' to me) while in the bag, which made for some pretty cute pictures.

I can't believe how fast she's growing, it seems like yesterday I was huge and swollen and miserably pregnant with her. Tomorrow we go for her two month check up, and I'm pretty sure the doctor is going to tell us that she's over 11 pounds, almost double her birth weight. She smiles and coos, kicks her little arms and legs and recognizes John and me. How fun is that? It makes me even more sad that I have to go back to work soon, it's been nice to be home with her. Honestly I haven't missed the office drama one iota. It's interesting how my whole focus has shifted from work to McKenna...I guess that's by design. I think I'm going to have a hard time concentrating for the first few weeks, mainly because my job was/is so fast paced and sometimes stressful. It will be interesting to see how that changes when I go back...maybe things that seemed like a big deal three months ago, won't seem so huge anymore.

One more picture, because I can't help myself...these are some PJ's that Aunt Blair bought for McKenna, and when I saw them initially I thought that she would never fit into them... how cute are they?

So close...

2008-09-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

McKenna slept for 7 hours (in a row, that's why it's exciting) the other night. I think we're getting close to her sleeping through the night. The only problem with the longer spells of sleeping, relates to the fact that then I wake up in a dead panic because I haven't heard the baby make a noise. Hopefully soon I'll be able to sleep through the night too...maybe I should try the rocking chair or perhaps some warm milk, I've heard from reliable sources that those methods work. I may have a more difficult time than McKenna, we shall see.

She's also started smiling this week, which is a fun new addition to her repertoire of tricks. We spend many hours a day trying to make her smile, which is exhausting. Here's a rare sighting caught on tape:

Sad Face...

2008-09-10T10:18:00.000-07:00

So it does exist... She does cry sometimes and I have proof... The sad part is I mostly think it's funny. In the following photos, McKenna is crying because I just gave her a bath and changed her clothes, I realize this was incredibly mean of me, seeing as she was covered in poop (this may be the only benefit of eating solid food, at least it won't get everywhere). She absolutely hates being naked, she is a modest girl (I hope this continues).

Growth spurts, screaming and baby acne...oh the joys of week 6

2008-09-07T14:29:00.000-07:00

She may look cute and innocent, but believe me, she has learned to manipulate her parents already. In the past two weeks we've been engaged in a battle of wills, we want her to nap in her crib when she's so tired she can't keep her eyes open...she has other ideas. We probably did her a disservice by letting her nap on us for the first few weeks she was home (but seriously, who can resist this face?). This has been a epic for the ages, she cries and cries and cries some more before she finally falls asleep. Strangely, we don't have this problem at night, she goes down easily. At least her days and nights aren't mixed up anymore. I will win this war, I am committed to it.

So I mentioned at somepoint, somewhere, I think, maybe on Facebook, that I was terrified of cutting her nails with clippers, I discovered a couple of weeks ago why I was so afraid, I cut the tip of her finger with the clippers. Beyond the fact that it bled like crazy, she screamed in a way that I've never heard her scream before...I guess there won't be any doubt in my mind as to what her 'I'm in pain' cry sounds like. So she looked like she was wearing nail polish on her finger for a few days, but other than that she doesn't seem to have suffered any ill effects. I'm the one who still suffers because I still feel guilty, even though she has completely healed. I know it's ridiculous. I may get over it some day... but so far I've made her have tongue surgery and cut her finger, I feel mean. I guess she already has chapter one for her, Mommy Dearest, memoir she'll write some day.

I think, even with all of the difficulties of the last two weeks, I'll probably keep her... she's a pretty good baby :-).

Inherited Narcolepsy...

2008-09-02T19:41:00.000-07:00

It seems that McKenna has inherited her father's love for sleeping... see 'exhibit A' below this post. I have a hard time waking either of them up from a nap. In fact, they're both sleeping now, and I have tried (unsuccessfully) to wake both of them up so they would play with me, but I guess it's not in the cards. I am becoming increasingly bored this evening, the RNC isn't nearly as engaging as I'd hoped, the Rockies are winning, I now know more than I ever needed to know about the genetic condition of gigantism, and America's Got Talent proves that America may not, in fact, have any talent. So because of this, I redesigned my blog page, created a new header, and am desperately trying to think of something entertaining to write so that people will continue to visit this blog.

Unfortunately, I may be unsuccessful in this pursuit. I have 500 other things I should be doing right now, but I can't bring myself to do any of them, because watching the baby sleep is infinitely more satisfying than housework of any variety. I figure that I should enjoy these days because they will be given to me in a limited supply, not only because she is growing so fast, but also because I am already half way through my maternity leave. I am really struggling with the idea of having to go back to work, I never thought the decision to return would be so difficult...it's a good thing I made the choice before I left the office in the first place. I am also worried about who I'm going to leave her with on Wednesdays, I'm just going to keep praying that God would lead me to the person/place McKenna is supposed to be with. This all is much harder than I thought it would be, I am more attached to this little person than I realized was possible.

Trash Talk

2008-08-27T10:39:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, John and I are die hard Buff fans...(I don't know how you couldn't know this). Which means with the CU vs. CSU game coming up on Sunday night, we had to get McKenna her first Buffs jersey. It's very important that there is no doubt in anyones mind that she loves the Buffaloes. She will be wearing her jersey to church on Sunday and to watch the game on Sunday night. So be prepared, McKenna's first words may be, "I hate the Rams."

Sleeping like a baby...

2008-08-22T12:13:00.000-07:00

I can't hardly believe that McKenna's a month old, it really seems like it was yesterday that I was in the hospital waiting to bring her home. She is such a good baby, she takes good naps, still only gets up once in the night and is rarely fussy. We are blessed. She really is a representation of God's grace for us, through her we get a small taste of what God's love for us is like.

Every time I feed her(did I mention she loves to eat?) I am reminded of the verse, 1 Peter 2:1-3; "Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good." It's a great message for all of us to make sure that we are called to get rid of all of the junk in our lives, and desire what the Lord has for us. It's fun to look at McKenna and see what innocence looks like...if only it would last forever :-)

On a lighter note, John decided that McKenna needed some sunglasses while we were at the mall last week. As you can see from the picture, she loves them...

Also, I have noticed that when she naps, she has adopted Josh Pittman's newborn napping style, hands behind the head (I don't know if Josh still does this, I recall pictures of him sleeping like this when he was an infant). I have some pictures of this too:

McKenna's growing an epic double chin...

2008-08-14T16:30:00.000-07:00

So when we had McKenna weighed at the doctor's office for the first time she was only in the 25th percentile for weight... since then she's been making up for lost time, eating like crazy and avoiding wake time like the plague. I weighed her this morning because I was curious to see if she'd gained any weight in the last three weeks. I stepped on the scale with her, then set her down to see what the difference was...I realize it's not the most scientific way I could of done it, but I can't think of a better way. She was 9lbs according to my math. I think you can see the difference if you look at a picture of her from 3 weeks ago, and a picture of her today:

I mean look at the double chin/neck roll... I think it's impressive work for three weeks.

It's my turn...

2008-08-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

So John has passed the blogging responsibilities off to me... apparently he has to work or something during the day. So while I eat a Popsicle while the baby is sleeping I thought I would take a moment to post some of the goings on of the last two weeks, since I have heard from several people that we've been remiss in not posting any updates since we came home from the hospital.

We've had our first 'check-up' and McKenna was back up to her birth weight... 6lbs 15oz, and she met Dr. Steitz for the first time... she liked him, as you can tell from this photo we took at the doctors office (ok maybe it was gas, but still cute none the less)
Dr. Steitz confirmed our suspicion that McKenna was tongue tied (meaning the piece of skin that holds your tongue to the bottom of your mouth was connected all the way to the tip of her tongue). He referred us to an ENT surgeon for a consultation, and we went last Monday to get it taken care of. It was traumatic for both of us, I had to hold McKenna when they anesthetized the underside of her tongue, which was not fun, and then I held her while they clipped the skin under her tongue... that part was horrible. She was really fussy for the entire day, and couldn't suck on her pacifier because her mouth was numb. Finally Kassie (our friendly neighborhood pharmacist) came to the rescue, and told us we could give her baby tylenol. We went back to the ENT surgeon yesterday for a recheck, and he told us that everything has healed properly and she's back to normal.

Other than our one fussy day, we've been really blessed so far that McKenna is a very happy (and sleepy) baby. She is getting up once to eat during the night, and usually goes right back to sleep after she's full. Not too shabby for a kid that's only 2.5 weeks old. We're getting settled into a routine and working on napping at the same time.

That's it for now...

McKenna's First Day

2008-07-25T17:01:00.001-07:00

McKenna has had a very eventful first day. Linds and I got moved into our recovery room around 2am, and both were really exhausted. Here are a few highlights of today, but you can check out our web gallery for more pictures:

Took a nap on daddy's chest (favorite activity so far).

Got to meet her Great Grandparents, Ma & Pa. Here's a picture:

She took her first bath.

She got to be held for the first time by her grandmas and her aunts Mary & Catherine.

She got to meet some of her adoring fans.

She had her first doctor's visit with the pediatrician. Dr. Bob says she is perfect (we all knew it, but it's nice to have it confirmed by a professional). He also said, "how can you see a baby like this and not believe there is a spectacular God." We agree!

Hello World

2008-07-24T23:06:00.001-07:00

McKenna Tomblin Boyle was born at 11:29pm on Thursday July 24th! She tips the scales at 6lbs 15oz and is 20 inches long. She is very alert, has a cute little cry, and loves her daddy very much. Lindsay is feeling good and did an amazing job during labor. McKenna is so lucky to have such an amazing and beautiful mom. She just got to meet her two grandmas and her aunts Mary and Catherine...they concur that she is exceptionally cute.

Congratulations to those of who guessed Thursday night for her arrival. As you can see, she is very photogenic--she can't wait to meet her many fans. We'll post more pictures as soon as we can to our web gallery.

Pushing Time!

2008-07-24T20:49:00.000-07:00

The nurse just checked Lindsay and said it is time to start pushing!

Ouch

2008-07-24T20:04:00.000-07:00

The contractions have been pretty intense recently, so the anesthesiologist just came in to adjust Lindsay's pain meds. Also, Lindsay's doctor came in at 9:00pm (hence the clock picture) and checked her progress--Linds is now 8cm, and the doctor says everything is going really well. She went from 7cm to 8cm in about half an hour for those of you keeping score at home.

The Waiting Game

2008-07-24T18:18:00.000-07:00

We saw the doctor about an hour and a half ago. Lindsay was 5cm dilated then, and the doctor says she will dilate about 1cm every 1.5 hours. So we got out our calculators and figure that she should be about 6cm now. That puts us at 10cm around 1:30 tomorrow morning...so it could be a photo finish between those of you who voted for McKenna to come tonight and those who picked tomorrow morning. Lindsay is feeling relatively comfortable, and Kris and I just finished dinner from the hospital cafeteria. Which apparently is the least expensive place in Boulder to eat--my lunch was $2.65.

Grandma is Here!

2008-07-24T15:34:00.000-07:00

Kris (Lindsay's mom--note the resemblance) just arrived...after reading our blog last night she couldn't stand it and got on the first flight she could (after picking up her dry cleaning of course). Lindsay is feeling much more comfortable now since she got the epidural. Now Lindsay is going to try and get some rest because we probably have a long night ahead of us (whether we're having a baby or feeding a baby).

Better Living Through Chemistry

2008-07-24T15:16:00.000-07:00

This is the epidural cart...it came right in time. Lindsay's contractions were getting really intense and uncomfortable. After getting the epidural, the nurse asked her if she felt the contraction she was having and Lindsay responded, "I'm having a contraction?"

I guess it's working.

Contractions Continue

2008-07-24T13:59:00.000-07:00

Bmer is getting upset that we haven't updated recently enough. (He's kind of high-maintenance). Basically not much is new...we are waiting for our moms to show up, and Lindsay's contractions are getting pretty intense. She's sitting in a rocking chair now...we'll start the epidural soon.

The Great Flood

2008-07-24T12:02:00.000-07:00

The doctor came in and broke Lindsay's water...McKenna doesn't seem to like the fact that her little hot tub is draining, so she's been moving around a lot. It's fun to hear her move around on the fetal monitor and to hear her little heart beat. We're hoping that all the time she has spent in amniotic fluid will make her a better swimmer. Her aunt Blair already bought her a swimsuit so she can start training soon!

Popsicles and Contractions

2008-07-24T10:58:00.001-07:00

Our nurse says everything is going really well, since Lindsay is on pitocin that means no more solid food for a while, so she is now on a liquid only diet. She convinced the nurse to bring her a popsicle, which Linds was very excited about. She estimates that she has now eaten 7,001 popsicles during her pregnancy.

Also her contractions are consistently about 3 minutes apart, and getting stronger. This is what one looks like on the monitor.

Room Tour

2008-07-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

If you're curious what our room looks like, here's a video to give you an idea. They just began giving Lindsay pitocin, so things should start slowly progressing now. Also, here's some exciting news...Kris (Lindsay's mom) was supposed to be here on Sunday, but can't handle the suspense anymore so Dan just dropped her off at the airport and she'll be here this afternoon. (Blair [Lindsay's sister] didn't know this was a surprise). Both of our moms are going to be awesome grandmas--I just hope they let me hold the baby! :-)

Breakfast

2008-07-24T07:39:00.000-07:00

Pancakes and eggs for breakfast! The doctor just came by and checked Lindsay...everything is going well... she's at two to three centimeters now so after breakfast they will start the pitocin.

Human pin cushion...

2008-07-24T07:18:00.000-07:00

This is the third attempt at an IV on me... apparently all this swelling has made my veins hard to find... ouch!

Pain in the Back

2008-07-24T05:57:00.000-07:00

Last night they did a procedure on Lindsay to help get things started. This morning the Doctor will come and start giving her pitocin, which will help speed things up. Lindsay had a fairly restful night's sleep...thanks in large part to ambien. She says she feels groggy this morning, and her back hurts. She also was having some mild contractions during the night that happened pretty regularly. Right now we're just watching the news and hanging out.

What to do with a Wii Bit of Time

2008-07-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

Our room is really nice. It's kinda like a hotel room, except with a linoleum floor and lots of medical equipment. It has a couch for John to sleep on, a nice bathroom with a whirlpool tub, and a TV. We figured we might have a lot of down time during all of this, so we brought the Nintendo Wii. If Lindsay doesn't look super happy, it's because John is schooling her in some intense games of Mario Kart. Also, she has a baby inside of her, which she describes as "uncomfortable."

Checked in and ready to rock and/or roll

2008-07-23T18:40:00.000-07:00

Linds and I are all checked into the hospital, and they are about to begin the induction. If anyone needs a little refresher on what got us into this mess, you might enjoy this helpful article from wikipedia about pregnancy.

As we were just getting settled in, we noticed this double rainbow outside our window. It reminded us of this verse from Genesis, and the promise God has made with all of us: "Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

Soon, McKenna will be able to see rainbows for the first time!

The Last Supper

2008-07-23T18:36:00.000-07:00

Before heading over to the hospital, Linds and I stopped at one of our favorite restaurants in Boulder, Pasta Jay's. Hope McKenna likes Gnocchi, cause that's what she's getting!